The United States Department of Defense and, in particular, the United States Army, have recently identified a need in the handling and transporting of logistics from location to location. Specifically, the United States Army has indicated that it is in need of a material handling system that would be capable of supporting objects and materials that can be easily and conveniently transported via air, sea, rail, and road without requiring extensive support equipment or modification of the transport vehicle. In other words, the United States Army is in need of a single cargo system that is capable of interfacing with existing material handling equipment and various transport aircraft cargo systems. Additionally, the cargo system should be capable of replacing existing 463L material handling system, airdrop platforms, and Container Roll In/Out Platforms (CROPs) such that objects/materials that have been packaged for one mode of transportation (i.e. air, sea, rail, or road) that can be easily loaded for another mode of transportation without the need to repackage.
By way of background, the existing 463L material handling system generally employs pallets that are approximately 88″ (224 cm)×108″ (274 cm) in size. The pallets include a series of tongues extending horizontally about the periphery of the pallet. These tongues are sized to be received and retained within rails mounted on a floor of a cargo aircraft.
Often times, one type of cargo system must be secured and transported on a different cargo system for it to be used in more than one mode of transportation. For example, in order for CROPs to be loaded onto military transport aircraft, such as the C-17 and the C-130, they must first be loaded on a series of 463L pallets. The CROPs include a complexly shaped underside having numerous support members therealong, which prevent rolling of the CROPs along the aircraft cargo roller system. Therefore, in order for CROPs, or for that matter any flatrack or ISO container, to be transported via aircraft, each CROP must be loaded onto three standard 463L pallets. To this end, these three 463L pallets are first coupled to each other in a “married” configuration. Next, a large crane is required to lift the CROP onto the “married” 463L pallets. The load must then be secured to the 463L pallets with restraint straps or chains. Finally, material handling equipment, such as a K-loader, is used to transport the entire assembly, including the “married” 463L pallets and CROP, and load it onto the loading ramp of the aircraft where it is then moved into the cargo area. This procedure is necessary because the CROP cannot be rolled directly on the roller assemblies of the aircraft because of its complexly shaped lower surface.
In order for CROPs, flatracks, or ISO containers to be loaded onto the “married” 463L pallets, heavy equipment must be available at the loading and unloading site to lift such heavy cargo onto and off the 463L pallets. Traditionally, a crane and a K-loader are airlifted to the areas where the aircraft is to be loaded and unloaded, which increases the complexity of the operation.
The use of “married” 463L pallets further limits how the cargo is to be unloaded. That is, the “married” 463L pallets are unable to withstand the forces generated during a “combat offload,” where the cargo is permitted to simply roll off the loading ramp of the aircraft while the aircraft is moving along a runway, taxiway, or parking ramp immediately after landing. Since combat offloads are prohibited when employing a married pallet system, the delivery of CROPs is limited to only those locations where a large crane and K-loader are available. This eliminates the possibility of off-loading cargo at generally small, austere airfields where such heavy material handling equipment is not available. Therefore, material handling equipment such as the crane and the K-loader must be flown ahead of time on a separate aircraft to the location where the aircraft carrying the CROPs is to be offloaded. On occasion, as many as three flights may be needed to deliver one CROP to an austere airfield (i.e., one flight to transport a K-loader, one flight to transport a crane, and one flight to transport the CROP). As can be readily appreciated, this significantly complicates and adversely affects the deployment of materials and equipment, as well as adding significant cost to the material transporting operation.
Additionally, conventional pallet systems limit the carrying capacity of the C-17 in that they permit only three CROPs to be carried down the center of the aircraft on the 463L interface pallets, which are secured in the 108″ (274 cm) air drop rail system (ADS).
Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a platform system that is loaded at depots and remains secured to the platform until it reaches its customer in a forward area. In other words, it would be desirable to have a platform system that is truly inter-modal with a smooth lower surface to roll onto an aircraft roller conveyor, as well as rail extensions able to interface with truck loading systems. The platform system should also fit snugly inside of a standard ISO container, at about 90 inches (229 cm) in width, and interface with a rail system found on most transport aircraft, equipped with either 88 (224 cm) or 108 inches (274 cm).